China to cut CO2 emissions by 730 mln tons

China is able to avoid and reduce carbon emissions by nearly 730 million tons annually due to the running of over 4,500 clean development projects such as using hydropower and methane, a government report said Wednesday.

China had approved 4,540 clean development mechanism (CDM) projects between 2004 and August 2012, and estimated annual certified emissions reduction (CER) could reach 730 million tons of CO2 equivalent, said the report, China's Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change 2012.

The projects mainly focused on new and renewable energy, energy conservation and energy efficiency and methane recycling, according to the document.

Among the projects, 2,364 have been registered with the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism Executive Board. They account for 50.41 percent of the world's total registered programs, according to the report.

The estimated CER of registered projects reached 420 million tons of CO2 equivalent annually, accounting for 54.54 percent of the global total, the document said.

"China tops the list in both numbers of registered projects and annual CER," it pointed out.

To date, 880 of the registered Chinese projects have been approved, and the total issuance volume has reached 590 million tons of CO2 equivalent. This is a major contribution to the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, the report said.

The report was released as nations gear up to start a new round of climate change talks at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will be held from Nov. 26 to Dec. 7 in Doha, Qatar.